Introduction

When this site was first launched in 2004 it was dedicated to William Walker and his wife Isabella (nee Otter) who came to Australia on the “Catherine” in1851. I have since discovered that most of William’s siblings came to South Australia.

My research to date has revealed that William had one sister, Susannah who stayed in England and four brothers, who all came to South Australia. Susannah married William Penney and came to Australia after the 1861 UK census.

Thomas & his wife Charlotte and their youngest brother, George accompanied William & Isabella on the “Catherine”.

George did go back to Lincolnshire and returned to South Australia bringing his bride Mary Ann (nee Snarey) with John on the “Lord Raglan” in 1856.

John, his wife Elizabeth (nee Cole) and their children Susanna & George followed on the “Lord Raglan” in 1856.

So, I now revise my dedication ….

To the memory of William Walker b1792 and Catherine Bonsel b1790 who did not have the luxury of family around them in old age and didn’t even meet most of their 30 odd Australian grandchildren.

William predeceased Catherine who died in the Union Workhouse in Bourn, Lincolnshire in 1872 …. a lonely end for the matriarch of our family.

Privacy

In order, to maintain the privacy of the living, they just appear as Private

In South Australia, in compliance with the Privacy Act, Birth records are not released for 75 years, Deaths 25 years and Marriages 60 years. For this reason, you will note sketchy or completely absent information for some family members.

The SA Genealogy Society indexes the death records from The Advertiser annually so these are an additional source. Most SA newspapers are available on microfiche but this is a very time consuming way to research and not all Births, Deaths and Marriages appear in the news print.

Mistakes

I do my utmost to ensure all details are accurate. However, it is human to make mistakes and sometimes even the Parish records are not accurate. I find mistakes and anomalies, often and record what is written not what I think. I name and quote the original entry and source of all information, in the Notes for each person.

Burials

William, Isabella, their son Joseph and his wife Alice Edith (nee Denson) are all buried together at Redhill South Australia in virtually unmarked graves. One of the community groups in Redhill has listed all graves in the cemetery which enabled us to find them.

There are other family graves scattered in cemeteries all over South Australia. Namely West Terrace, Centennial Park, North Road, Mount Barker, Burra, Terowie, Jamestown, Port Pirie, Whyalla, Redhill and more. You will find the place of burial in the individual notes for each person, if I have been able to locate the record.

Thanks

Our sincere thanks to Maurice (Son of Joseph Walker, grandson of William & Isabella) and his wife Shirley Walker, of Redhill who loaned us precious photos and allowed us to view and photograph William’s and Isabella’s bibles.

Our thanks also to Ron & Barbara (nee Walker) Bartley and Rob & SandraWalker for allowing us to copy their family photos (included in this site) and to Brian Walker who generously shared his family tree which filled many gaps.The research is given freely to the family so please use it for your own research. It should not to be published for financial gain without the approval of the author.